The Fall of Rock Clan
by emeraldfern
Summary: I just put up the Second Chapter! OK, it's REALLY short, but i only had time to write that much and it seemed like a good stopping point for now! You know, a good CLIFF-HANGER!
1. Cats of Rock Clan Ref Page Chapter 1

**ROCK CLAN CATS****: Chapter ONE!**

**Leader: **Hiddenstar

**Apprentice:**

**Deputy:** Darkdawn

**Apprentice: **Snowpaw

**Medicine Cat:** Viperstrike

**Apprentice:** Eaglepaw

**Senior Male Warriors****:**

Jaggedheart

**Apprentice: **Barkpaw

Cinderclaw

**Senior Female Warriors****:**

Mouse-ear

**Apprentice: **Jaypaw

Lilyheart

**Young Male Warriors****:**

Braveheart

**Apprentice:**

Foxflight

**Apprentice: **

Redpine

Dustdevil

Owlcliff

**Young Female Warriors****:**

Ambercloud

**Apprentice: **Fallenpaw

Brightcrow

Goldenfeather

Willowvine

Tawnyeagle

Ivyhawk

**Apprentices****:**

Barkpaw

Jaypaw

Fallenpaw

Snowpaw

**Kits****:**

Jadekit

Waterkit

Emeraldkit

Gorsekit


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One****:**

_The Fall of Rock Clan_

Hiddenstar was pacing restlessly in front of the medicine cat den, frustrated that he could not go in. _I, the _leader_ of this clan, am not even allowed to see my own kits born! This is outrageous!_ He thought to himself. He shook his massive, dark head from side to side, trying to settle himself down. Then he caught one of his senior warriors, Mouse-ear looking at him with understanding and sympathy in her eyes. He sighed and sat down, trying to act like the dignified leader he was supposed to be; but Mouse-ear was not fooled. She had seen this kind of behavior in many toms before. She herself had seen it in her own mate when both times had come for _her_ to give birth to _their_ kits. Mouse-ear got up, trotted over to her leader, and sat next to him, enjoying the last rays of the sun that hit the rock that they sat upon. She sat there silently for a moment before mewing some teasing words to Hiddenstar.

"You know, this ordeal would go much smoother for Lilyheart she knew that you weren't out here pacing ruts into the rock!" When he didn't respond other than to blink at her with his golden eyes, Mouse-ear went on. "Look, Hiddenstar, I know that you are worried out of your fur, but _please_ for the sake of your mate, and for you _own_ sanity, get a hunting party together and go hunt! We are going to need all the fresh-kill we can get these days after all! With all these new little mouths to feed, if you know what I mean; which I know you do! Now go on, get going! I'll watch over her, I promise, alright?" Mouse-ear smiled as she watched her leader's shoulders relax and his muscles ease up from the tense state they had been in for the past few hours. She didn't like seeing her adopted brother acting so strangely, even if she _did_ know why he was acting She didn't like seeing her adopted brother acting so strangely, even if she _did_ know why he was so agitated. She moved away from Hiddenstar, and stretched out in the sun on one of the many rocks in camp to observe what her brother would do next.

Sighing, Hiddenstar got to his paws and looked around for a group of cats to go with him on a hunt. He knew that Mouse-ear would never leave him alone about it until he did. After a few glances, he spotted Jaggedrock trotting over to the apprentices' den; no doubt to get his apprentice, Barkpaw, ready for training. Hiddenstar smiled to himself. Barkpaw would be almost as worried about Lilyheart as he himself was. She was his mother, and Hiddenstar was his father. Barkpaw mostly took after his father; which Hiddenstar thought was a great pity, for his sister, who was the only other kit in his litter, and who had taken after her mother very much, had died only three moons after their birth. Hiddenstar had been heart-broken, and would have sworn to never have kits again if Lilyheart hadn't made him realize that StarClan sometimes does these things and that it was sometimes the course of nature that kits die even before they are made apprentices.

As Hiddenstar thought about who to bring, he finally decided to just bring Jaggedrock and Barkpaw.

"Jaggedrock, would you like to go hunting with me? The fresh kill pile needs to be fully restocked if the clan is to have new mouths to feed!" Hiddenstar called out to his most trusted warrior.

"Sure! You know I would never pass up a chance to catch a few rabbits! I'll bring Barkpaw along; it will be a good hunting training session for him." With that, Jaggedrock trotted off to find his apprentice. Soon, the three cats were racing out of camp and leaping up the rocky ravine that surrounded the clan's camp. They slowed their pace as they neared the forest and soon, they even stopped their cheerful banter.

"Can you scent anything new around this particular tree today, Barkpaw? Are there any new predators that have been here recently?" murmured Jaggedrock as the three of them passed near to a very large, very ancient pine tree. Barkpaw looked at his mentor curiously; they had hunted here many times before because there was always plentiful prey scurrying around in and under the tree; but why should there be anything different to smell on this _particular_ day? He decided to voice his opinion of the situation.

"But Jaggedrock…this is just a pine tree. I mean, I'm sure that there is _prey_ scent there, and perhaps some fox scent, but it would most likely be stale, because no cat has reported seeing or even scenting a fox around the territory. And it couldn't be badger, because they never come this close to camp unless there is an extreme shortage of food, which there isn't. So, I think that there is only one reason to scent-check this certain place...for prey."

"Well, you are right and you are wrong. There have been no foxes and," Jaggedrock paused to check the air for scents again to be extra sure, "the badgers around here have still not come this way for at least a season; the scent is that stale! However, you did miss one other very important predator... the owl. A particularly nasty one lives here, and he has a horrible reputation." Jaggedrock hissed. "He will sometimes scare away prey that we are stalking just for the fun of it! He also will steal prey from us after we have caught it; but worst of all…he is a kit-killer! The Clan has lost a total of five kits to him since he came to live here, which he did almost right after the Clan was formed. So he has been around for a good long while. Now, you need to be on your guard while we hunt today because that owl lives in this tree. He was gone for a long time; a few moons in fact! Anyways, he is back now, and so we must be careful once more about where we hunt, and we must teach all the apprentices about him and how to avoid him. So, off you go, find some prey!"

"Okay! Don't worry! I won't get eaten!" and with those words, Barkpaw thrust his nose to the ground and then brought his head up sharply as he caught the scent of a thrush. He crept along, aware that both his mentor _and_ his father were watching him, and began to stalk the brown bird. As Barkpaw reached striking distance, a strange, strong, rank odor drifted into his nostrils. It was so strong that Barkpaw almost gagged, but he kept his head about him and kept stalking the thrush. As he was poised to pounce, he suddenly had the urge to look slightly up and into the bushes that were across the clearing from him. What he saw there startled him so much that he nearly fell onto his nose. There were two sets of beady black eyes, and they were looking straight at him. Suddenly, one wide, toothy grin appeared out of thee gloomy darkness so that Barkpaw could now see a horrible, grinning face and then just eyes floating right next to it. Barkpaw stood there, frozen in fear, because he could not determine what kind of animal could make such an evil-looking grin, and had those kinds of eyes, plus, he couldn't even distinguish the two animals' scents!

"Hiddenstar! Hiddenstar, oh am I glad I found you! Lilyheart has been so frantic!" a voice called from behind Barkpaw. He whipped his head around to see Brightcrow, one of the younger warriors come dashing into the clearing and skid to a halt in front of them, panting heavily.

"What happened? Is everything okay? Are the kits fine? Is Lilyheart okay?" Hiddenstar pestered Brightcrow with questions so fast that she had to yowl to get him to stop so she could answer them.

"The thing that happened is that your kits were born, Hiddenstar! Everything is okay, the kits are all strong and healthy, and Viperstrike is seeing to Lilyheart's needs properly. And her needs are the typical needs that _any _queen who just kitted has to have; lots of rest, a few herbs, something to eat and drink, and of course time with her kits and her mate. So off you go; go spend some time with your new kits and with Lilyheart!" Brightcrow purred good-naturedly. "You should probably go and see your new brothers and sisters too, Barkpaw."

"Oh, yeah, okay…I'll do that." Barkpaw said distractedly. He was straining to see the place where the two animals had been, but they were simply…gone. "Weird…I can still smell them…" He murmured to himself before trotting off back to camp. What he didn't see was the two sets of eyes blink simultaneously as he padded past them on his was out of the clearing. He also missed the _two _grins the appeared right after he left the clearing completely.


	3. Cats of Rock Clan Ref Page Chapter 2

**ROCK CLAN CATS****: Chapter TWO! **

**Leader: **Hiddenstar

**Apprentice:**

**Deputy:** Darkdawn

**Apprentice: **Snowpaw

**Medicine Cat:** Viperstrike

**Apprentice:** Eaglepaw

**Senior Male Warriors****:**

Jaggedrock

**Apprentice: **Barkpaw

Dustdevil

**Senior Female Warriors****:**

Mouse-ear

**Apprentice: **Jaypaw

Lilyheart

**Young Male Warriors****:**

Braveheart

**Apprentice:**

Foxflight

**Apprentice: **

Redpine

Cinderclaw

Owlcliff

**Young Female Warriors****:**

Ambercloud

**Apprentice: **Fallenpaw

Brightcrow

Goldenfeather

Willowvine

Tawnyeagle

Ivyhawk

**Apprentices****:**

Barkpaw

Jaypaw

Fallenpaw

Snowpaw

**Kits****:**

Jadekit

Waterkit

Emeraldkit

Gorsekit

Cedarkit

Glacierkit

Spiritkit

Onekit

Pantherkit

**Mothers/Fathers & Kits****:**

Lilyheart + Hiddenstar – 1st Litter = Barkpaw, Deerkit (deceased), Fallenpaw, (ADOPTED)

2nd Litter = Emeraldkit, Gorsekit, Onekit

Mouse-ear + Braveheart – 1st Litter = Darkdawn, Brightcrow

2nd Litter = Spiritkit

Tawnyeagle + Redpine – 1st Litter = Eaglepaw, Nettlekit (deceased)

Willowvine + Owlcliff – 1st Litter = Snowpaw, Lilackit (deceased)

Goldenfeather + Dustdevil – 1st Litter = Waterkit, Pantherkit

Ambercloud + Cinderclaw – 1st Litter = Jaypaw

Ivyhawk + Foxflight – 1st Litter = Cedarkit, Glacierkit


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two****:**

_The Fall of Rock Clan_

"Hiddenstar, you can come in now," called Viperstrike from the depths of the medicine cat den. "Eaglepaw! I told you _not_ to mix those herbs yet!" She growled to her apprentice, who sat in the far corner of the den, mixing some strong-smelling herbs and sweet, sticky berries.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Viperstrike…I didn't notice what I was doing…I-I was thinking about Lilackit." Eaglepaw said heavily; his mournful eyes turned to his paws.

"For StarClan's sake, Eaglepaw, your sister is _dead_! Let the past be the past and the present be the present. Let her go. There are other _live_ cats that need our help, and you will help me whether you like it or not! Do you understand me?" Viperstrike snapped in a rather harsh tone.

"Viperstrike, I think that we can let the young one grieve for his sister a little while longer. I'm sure that you, as a medicine cat, have lost another cat for whom you cared for a great deal. Surely you understand how this little one feels." Hiddenstar blinked his warm golden eyes comfortingly at Viperstrike, and then at Eaglepaw before turning back to his mate and kits. Viperstrike only glared at Eaglepaw before she herself turned away and retreated to a solitary corner of the den, where she murmured to herself,

"Of course I have lost someone I cared for a great deal, Hiddenstar…I lost…I lost you. I thought you and I were to be together forever…and then _she_ came into the clan and ruined my life!" She shot Lilyheart a deadly stare as she muttered the last part.


End file.
